She didn’t care for touch.

A statement that lived in her head as Ryad hold her. His was running through different tunnels. He barely talked, and she could feel how he struggled with breathing. The only thing that stopped them from getting caught was Sun.

Noise surrounded her yet nothing remained in her head. Different voices and his steps turned into a mush of a noise.

The smell of ash stalked them. Ryad used his cape to cover their faces when Sun shot fire. She still felt how the poison of it entered her body, yet she remained well as one can be.

“We’re here”

She didn’t care for touch, she wanted him to hold her forever.

The gust of wind kissed her face. She let her eyes witness the dull sky. The sight of the burned forest haunted her. Her back was against a boulder, tall enough to hide from the watch towers, big enough to block the exit.

Sun with just a push of his tall did that, many rebels yelled, their steps clear for once.

“Didn’t you say this pathway was a secret?” Sun asked behind a rock

“Eh, secret picket blanket. It doesn’t matter in the end.”

“I think it should.”

“Here’s your clothes,” only then did Ryad leave Alice by herself.

“First things first,” the bard clapped his hands, “You both need to rest for a bit. We have about an hour or so before the other guys come here. Then we’ll go-”

Alice didn't realize how a person could fall on the ground with one punch alone. She lost all sense of what her body could and couldn't do. Only when Sun checked on the bard did Alice get back to herself.

The little boy picked him up. She didn’t laugh or cry, not did she swear or plead. All she could do is breathe. The one thing that still made sense to her was that breathing kept her alive.

After Ryad got up, Sun had sprinted to her. He held her arm but she didn’t respond.

“Why?” she asked over and over again.

“Well, it’s been almost a week since we last saw you so when Mister Ryad told me he could help I-”

“Why?”

“Alice?” no one knew whom she asked that.

“Let me.”

Ryad was standing in front of Alice.

“In the forest...”

“Oh yeah I never explained that one.”

“You mean the meeting with Rue?” Sun asked as he riffled away scales from his hair. ”Yup! You see the reason I helped you was because...”

He took a long pause to finish his sentence, “I was bored.”

“What.” the other two said it at the same time. Less so as a question and more so an expression of what state their minds were.

“Nex back told me all about you the night after the rebels set the castle of fire.”

“Nex back?”

“And I promised Nex Text to do one thing I was curious about.”

“What was that?” Sun asked.

“Protect Alyssa, please.”

She wanted to yell but her voice betrayed her.

“And when I just happen to find a person whose ‘real name’ is Alyssa. Who also happened to arrive during the meeting with Rue? I thought ‘this will be fun’ and lo and behold, you fought a cult leader to save a dragon.”

“Was that boring?” Sun finished ruffling his hair.

“Take a guess.”

“Kind of.”

“Take another guess. So anyway as a thanks I’ll-”

”Why should I trust you!?”

Ryad didn’t respond.

“Of all the people you could have been friends with...Nexus! You must know what he did-”

”About that. I kind of helped.”

“Alice!” Her hand was twitching. Curled up in a fist, it moved faster than her breaths. She could have bashed his teeth in, had Sun not stepped in. His hands covered in scales big and small.

“Hold on! Let me explain!”

He cleared his throat, “I’m a Hasatan. I have the power to tell who lied and who didn’t with sound, and that alone got me a go job once I arrived here.”

“Trials are no longer a thing which means I’m poor again but let’s ignore that,” he whispered.

“And during Miroslav’s trial I noticed, the weird word choice the kid used. I was there when he confirmed how he ‘ lied’ in front of others, and I wasn’t able to do anything. I joined rebellious flame because of that and well the rest isn’t important.”

“That’s doesn't explain anything!” she yelled, wanting her nails underneath his skin, “Why would you still be friends with him? Why didn’t you do anything? Why didn’t you-”

”Kill him?”

She went silent.

“Now I could list many reasons why I didn't, and millions of reasons why you shouldn't either. But this guy could explain it better with only one.”

“Sun?”

“I heard everything. Please don’t do it.”

-

Don't you love giving your characters a moral crisis? Answer that in the comments if you want to! Thanks for reading and goodbye!